Rice's Darrick Dillard gets outside for first down yardage
against Irish (PTH photo)
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (Aug. 31) – Thirty-seven seconds remained
on the first-half clock as the Rice Owls drove downfield,
seemingly in position to turn a 21-10 Notre Dame lead into
anybody’s ball game going in to the halftime locker room.
Somewhere in the stands, on the sideline, from some of the
Rice faithful, the thought must have arisen: "Damn, if we
only had 30 more seconds...."

Next play, Owl quarterback Driphus Jackson tossed his
singular ill-advised pass of the day, and the Rice scoring
opportunity was lost via interception. Seconds later, Notre
Dame quarterback Everett Golson evaded two diving sack
attempts and found his receiver, C. J. Prosise, wide open at
the five yard line.

What could have been a 21-17 bar-room brawl was suddenly
turned into a 28-10 laugher, and it was pretty much "save
the equipment" time for the Owls from there on out. And
somewhere, in the stands, on the sideline, from some of the
Rice faithful, the thought must have arisen, "Damn, if we’d
only run out the clock."

Golson’s mad scramble epitomized the performance of Notre
Dame’s bad-boy signal caller, returning to the field from
academic suspension during the 2013 season after leading the
Irish to a 12-1 record back in 2012. Shaking off the rust;
actually running like a well-oiled machine, Golson accounted
for five touchdowns – three in the air and two by foot – as
the Fighting Irish made it look easy in a 48-17 romp over a
game but outmanned Owl team.

The last-gasp touchdown pass from Golson to Prosise was the
second major first-half fail for an inexperienced Owl
secondary. Late in the first quarter, first play after the
Owls had tied the score at 7, Rice defenders bit on a Golson
play fake that allowed ND’sWill Fuller just enough time to
get open deep downfield. The Irish receiver was able to spin
out of the grasp of Julius White’s diving tackle attempt, and
walk into the end zone.

So the Owls’ hard-earned 7-7 tie wound up lasting exactly 12
seconds on the scoreboard clock, after they’d fashioned a
65-yard, eight play drive that culminated with a
Jackson-to-Zach Wright post pattern that covered 26 yards
for the score.

Given that the Rice had stuffed the ND offense for
three-and-outs on the Irish’ first two possessions, the
Irish fans were much chastened and quite silenced by that
Rice TD strike, and at such point it looked as if Notre Dame
would have its hands full for the rest of the day.

But 14 basically free first-half points will do in an outfit
against much lesser teams than Notre Dame, and the Owls,
back on their heels, were unable to make up any ground in
the second half.

Golson’s scrambling TD strike to Prosise was one the Owl
defenders wished they’d had back.

“We're on it for the initial rush, and then the play extends
for a few seconds, and then it's pick-up ball in the back
yard," Rice safety Gabe Baker said post-game. "It puts a lot
of pressure on the secondary, but we've got to make plays."

“We blitzed them on that play,” Rice head coach David Bailiff said. “That
was a direct result of (Golson’s) being able to extend the
play where the blitz couldn’t get to him, and we left our
corner on the island for too long.”

But the 75-yarder to Fuller was just as damaging – and just
as avoidable, according to Coach Bailiff.

"They ran a play-action pass. It’s (a matter of) just one
second," DB lamented. "The guy looks the wrong
way. You have to have discipline with your eyes, and you
have to stay on top of that route."

With Rice’s top two receivers on the shelf – in addition to
injured TE Connor Cella, the Owls’ senior wideout, Jordan
Taylor, was held out of the game because of a nagging minor
foot injury – the Notre Dame defense came out stuffing the
box in focus on the Rice running game. The strategy worked,
for on Rice’s first three possessions, the Owls were exactly
7-for-7 rushing – that is, seven yards in seven rushing
attempts. Ouch.

Once Driphus started connecting with his receivers, however,
the Irish defense had to back off and play the whole field.
The play that made ‘em honest was a quick crossing route
from DJ to Dennis Parks which went for 30 yards on the
Owls’ opening scoring drive.

After Notre Dame quickly jumped back out in front via the
75-yard TD pass on first play from scrimmage, the Owls
managed to get the running game going, at least somewhat.
Driphus had keepers wide for 10 and 19 yards, and then a
26-yard completion to Luke Turner set up the Owls in
business at the Notre Dame 21.

"After we opened up the offense, I thought Driphus was very
efficient," DB commented. "When he runs the football, I
think he made some good choices."

DJ got five more on first down to the ND 16, but then two
more rushing attempts yielded zip yards, so the Owls had to
settle for a 33-yard James Hairston field goal – the first
three-pointer of the LSU transfer’s college career, by the
way.

That made it 14-10, Notre Dame, when a 14-14 tie would have
sent so much more of a resounding message to the Domers.

When Notre Dame’s Amir Carlisle mishandled the ensuing
kicking, the Owls’ D. J. Green and Nick Elder both had
tantalizingly close shots at the ball inside the ND five
yard line. The Irish deep back managed to get control of the
ball and slither as far as the 16 yard line, and from there,
the Irish cranked up an 84-yard, seven-play touchdown drive.

The killer on that trip was a 34 yard completion, Golson to
Amir Carlisle. Credit the ND QB’s scrambling ability, or
debit a breakdown in the secondary, it jacked up the Domers
and moved them into Rice territory. The Owl defense
stiffened in the red zone, but then on third and eight from
the Rice 14, Golson danced into the
end zone, leaving about four whiffed tackles along the way.

Little doubt that if the guy stays healthy, he’ll win some
games for the Irish that they otherwise might have lost.
There’s a reason ND was 12-1 with Golson as a redshirt
freshman, and a reason why they fell to four losses without
him last year.

Down 21-10, the Owls had 2:33 left on the halftime clock
when they took the ensuing kickoff. Rice worked the short
passing game into Irish territory at the 49, but burned a
couple of minutes in so doing.

Half a field to go, with only seconds remaining, and he Owls
were forced into extradordinary measures. That set up the
aforementioned interception, as Driphus scrambled on second
and 11. The Irish’ Matthias Farley made the pick ten yards
downfield and took it back as far as the Notre Dame 47,
where Driphus and Darrick Dillard pushed him out of bounds.

There on second and ten, as the clock ticked down to zero,
Golson zigged, zagged, and found his man Prosise all by his
lonesome.

The Owls were due the second half kickoff, and after taking
a touchback, resolutely moved downfield. The Rice offensive
line moved out the bigger and faster ND defensive front as
Darrick Dillard, Jowan David and Brandon Hamilton all rushed
for first downs.

Bizarrely, as the Owls faced second and four at the Notre
Dame 28, the skies suddenly poured forth as the ND student
section squealed in surprised delight. But the downpour
seemed to slow down the Owls as a Jowan Davis rush and a
quick-out to Dennis Parks failed to produce.

James Hairston’s fourth down field goal attempt barely got
off the launching pad – attribute it to a bad snap, or blame
it on the pouring rain – and Notre Dame wound up taking over
at its own 29.

The rain soon subsided, but with the failed drive also ebbed
away any realistic chances the Owls had to get back into the
game.

Notre Dame ground out a clock-eating drive on the ensuing
possession, but settled for a 36-yard Kyle Brindza field
goal after consecutive stops by Gabe Baker and Zach Patt
stalled the Irish at the Rice 18.

The Owls absolutely had to get points on their next
possession in order to stay in the contest, but on fourth
and four at the Rice 41, Luke Turner picked up 3.9 yards,
courtesy of a bad spot, and the ball turned over on downs.

Naturally the Irish were able to mount a short drive from
that point. When the Rice defense stiffened inside the 10,
on third and three at the four yard line, Golson turned a
busted play into a touchdown dash, making the score 38-10,
ND, and it was time for the reserves to get in some PT.

One Rice reserve, quarterback Tyler Stehling, raised
eyebrows when he calmly connected with true freshman wideout
James Mayden on the dead run for 53 yards and a touchdown,
capping a six-play, 75-yard drive to bring the Owls to
within 41-17.

But that’s as close as they could get, as a soph ND
quarterback Malik Zaire made mincement of Rice’s defensive
reserves, scooting for 56 yards up the middle and down the
sideline; then 17 more for the score in the waning moments.

“I’m proud of the effort Rice played with today,” DB said
postgame. “We’re going to watch the tape and we’re going to
get better. I’m glad that we opened with a team like Notre
Dame.”

The Owls now have an open date and thus two weeks to prepare
for Texas A&M, 58-28 conquerors of previously ninth-ranked
South Carolina on the road. Absent major improvement by
Rice’s secondary men, the Farmers likely will be able to name
the score. Tough order of business for any football team.

--P.T.H.
HOUSTON (Aug. 28) – Ever since Notre Dame officials last
fall confirmed this season-opening matchup between Rice and
their Fighting Irish, the Owls and their fans have been able
to revel in the eventuality.

x

For the
last eleven months, Rice has stood toe-to-toe with the
vaunted Irish -- giving up nary a point, conceding no
disadvantage. Thoughts of an idyllic football weekend,
crowds, bands, a national stage, even the real possibility
of an epic upset -- all have been as music to the ears of
die hard supporters of our fair Institute.

Now it’s time to pay the piper.

It’s Catholics versus Carbohydrates, they say, as the Rice
Owls tee it up with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in Notre
Dame Stadium, 3:30 p.m. (2:30 central time) Saturday on a
game to be televised nationally by NBC.
With Rice’s having to replace a dozen starters, all
graduating seniors, and with the return to the field of play
of starting quarterback Everett Golson, the man who led ND
to a 12-0 regular season in 2012, casual observers have this
one penciled in as a “save the equipment” game for the Owls,
who go in as 21-point underdogs.

There are numerous factors in support of that contention.

The Owls will be facing a sellout crowd of 80,000-plus.
That’s par for the course in South Bend, where the
good fathers have sold out every single home game since
November, 1973. In four prior contests with the Irish,
dating back to 1915, the Owls have scored a grand total of
one -- no, make that ZERO -- touchdowns. So, no, the series, such as it is, has not
been competitive.
In Golson, who was suspended for the entire 2013 season for
disciplinary reasons, the Irish have a talented, proven
double-threat who led them to an undefeated regular season
and a national championship game as a mere redshirt
freshman.

Rice has beaucoup holes to fill, having to replace six
starters on both the offensive and defensive sides, not to
mention an all-league place kicker.

The Rice defensive line is especially thin, having weathered
the loss of key starters StuartMouchantaf, who’s out after
suffering an offseason knee injury and Derek Brown, who’s
AWOC (Absent without Coaches’ Comment).

Even with the presence of those two guys, the Owls total
avoirdupois still would have added up to total the smallest
team facing the Irish all season.

But last year, the Owls were facing even more daunting odds
in their season opener, heading up to the Holler Box on the
Brazos to face the Texas Aggies and, at least for a half,
Heisman-winning QB Johnny Manziel.

Rice came out in that one and kicked dust right in the
Farmers’ faces, charging out to an early lead and playing on
even terms for a half.

It won’t be any louder in Notre Dame Stadium Saturday than
it was at Kyle Field last August.

Everett Golson returns at quarterback, but four Notre Dame starters will
sit out this one while they are being
investigated for potential NCAA violations (“academic
dishonesty” was the term used by Notre Dame administrators).

All four are significant producers for the Irish. First,
there’s WR DaVaris Daniels, who is the most prolific pass
catcher on the squad with career total of 49 receptions,
seven TD and 745 total yards receiving.

The other three investigatees are all on the defensive side,
including senior defensive end Ishaq Williams, junior
cornerback KeiVarae Russell and senior linebacker Kendall
Moore. Russell is considered ND’s best player in the
secondary.

With Golson’s ample skills, and with the big, beefy (albeit
somewhat inexperienced) offensive line that the Irish put on
the field, it’s doubtful they’ll need to rely much on the
passing game in order to move the football. Notre Dame, like
Rice, is deep at the running back spot, led by Cam McDaniels
(705 yards, three TDs) and Tarean Folston (470 yards, three
TDs).

Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly is high on both of his
lead ball carriers. “Folston is a really smooth operator and
very productive, but Cam is so efficient in everything that
he does for us. He's invaluable from that perspective,"
Coach Kelly said at his weekly press briefing.

Two Irish offensive linemen are something of a question mark
in that they’ll be returning from season-ending injuries.
Nick Martin returns at center, replacing his older brother,
Zack Martin, while Christian Lombard will fill the right
guard spot after undergoing season-ending back surgery in
October.

If the Irish have anything resembling an Achilles Heel, it’s
on the defensive side, where they’ll be slightly green
behind the ears, just as are the Owls.

Irish defenders are led by linebacker Jaylon Smith (67
tackles) and safety Austin Collinsworth (43 tackles, three
picks). "I think we've seen a lot of growth in his game,"
Coach Kelly remarked regarding his linebacker Smith. "He was
an outside player, and now he's not just a leveraged player,
he's playing inside out, which requires so much more as a
football player. Discipline, instincts, pass coverage, so
many things that he's grown into."

Like the Owls, the Irish are huge and experienced on the
defensive interior, featuring DTs Sheldon Day and Jarron
Jones. But they’re relatively untested at the defensive end
position, where true freshman Andrew Trumbetti and sophomore
Isaac Rochell are expected to start.

With defensive back Russell’s being kept after school,
rookie Notre Dame defensive coordinator Brian Van Gorder will rely primarily
on Cole Luke and Cody Riggs, a transfer from the University
of Florida, to pace the pass defense.

Coach Kelly’s main message here is that there is plenty of
size and speed on defense to offset the suspension of the
three starting defenders.

“Defensively it's one of the more inexperienced groups,” he
said. “But it's probably one of the more athletic groups,
too. So there is a give-and-take there from that
perspective. I don't think, if I look at our offensive
group, I wouldn't consider them an inexperienced group, but
I would say defensively there is going to be -- you know,
there are going to be times where we're going to be gnashing
our teeth a little bit.”

Translation, please...

The Notre Dame head man naturally had positive words to cast in
the direction of the Owls and their head coach, David
Bailiff.

"It is certainly a football team in Rice that we have a
great deal of respect for," he told press. "I do have great
respect for David
Bailiff. He has done a great job, worked his way up through
the ranks, like I have as well. Now, over the last couple of
years, he’s done some things at Rice that nobody has done in
years."

True dat, but DB’s teams in the past have had a tendency to
fade a bit in the year after big-win seasons.

A strong showing in South Bend would send a strong signal
that that tendency is about to be broken.
--P.T.H.

HOUSTON (Aug. 25) – There’s an awfully big dog looming
on the Rice Owl football schedule, ready to be taken on
within the week. But first, before trekking up to South
Bend to deal with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, players
and coaches alike said it was a relief just to have
completed the three-weeks-long preseason camp with a
feeling of readiness, of organization, and without
having any major mishaps having occurred.

Rice head coach David Bailiff told a relatively large
gathering of press at Monday’s inaugural weekly luncheon
that the players, while focusing hard on their upcoming
season opener, needed to catch
their collective breaths after fall camp adjournment.
And then, too, there’s the sound of that school bell
a’ringing.

“First day of class today, so I expect we won’t have
much of a workout,” Coach Baliff said, with some
semblance of a grin. “Our freshman will still be
figuring out where to find the chemistry lab, though
we’ve schooled them on that sort of thing.”

Rice starting quarterback Driphus Jackson gave every
indication he knows exactly where he’s going, but he
referred, too, to the relief of having completed the
drudgery of what used to be referred to as “Two-a-Days.”

“The defense is tired of hitting us on the offense, and
we’re tired of going against our defense,” he allowed.
After all that head-knocking, what’s his first
impression of heading up to South Bend? “Well, it’s a
change of scenery,” he quipped.

“We’re obviously excited to be going up and playing
there, but we’re excited, just now, that we’re out of
camp...and then after that, that now we’re getting to go
up and play against one of the nation’s top teams.”

“I think everybody’s excited just to be out of camp
right now,” he told scribes. “We’re really excited to be
just five days away. The offense is ready. The defense
is ready. Oh, man, we can’t wait to be in South Bend,
right now.”

"They're going to be ready to go," Coach Bailiff
insisted. "They were excited when they first saw Notre
Dame on the schedule. It's more of an opportunity for us
to see what type of football team we're going to be."

“We’ve had a fabulous camp,” the Owl head man added. “
I’m really excited about how this football team
progressed during it.”

Repeating a consistent theme, he noted that the
continuity of coaching staff personnel made it easier to
clock through the myriad assignments required of
organized fall drills, and gave Rice assistants more
time to evaluate talent and fill the necessary holes
left by last year’s graduates.

“The camp was really a smooth transition, where we were
able to retain most of our coaches,” he said. “(OC)
Larry Edmondson has really done a fabulous job of making
this a seamless transition.”

Then he threw in a couple of just-f’r-instances. “Our
running backs, Jowan Davis and Derrick Dillard, have had
just an amazing camp. Our receivers, Dennis Parks,
Jordan Taylor, Mario Hull, Zack Wright, are guys who are
not only looking to catch the ball. The most improvement
they made in this camp is where they want to block
downfield and understand their role in that – if we’re
going to get big plays, how they’re going to perform
every snap.”

Fall workouts were not completely without their
casualties, however. Earlier this week, Coach Bailiff
announced starting tight end Connor Cella will miss four
to six weeks with a rib fracture. That loss looks to be
hurtful, as his two-deep backups have exactly zero
career catches on the stat sheet.

And a late potential scratch looks to be the Owls’ most
prolific and experienced receiver, WR Jordan Taylor.
Coach Bailiff closed his press conference with the news
that Jordan has been held out this week with a sore
foot.

“If he’s pain-free he’ll play,”Coach Bailiff said. “But
if not, we’re going to hold him out. We’re going to be
smart with him – we’ve got a lot more games left to play
this season and want to be sure he’s one hundred per
cent for conference.”

A little sand-bagging, perhaps? Mum’s the word, for
those who are in the know.

--P.T.H.

Little news good news
on Rice fall camp front
HOUSTON (Aug. 11) – Routine has pervaded early fall camp
workouts, but for Rice Owl fans, a paucity of news is good news as the
team goes through its preparatory procedures in anticipation
of its Aug. 30 season inaugural at Notre Dame.

On tap for today is the first scrimmage on the schedule, one
in which fundamentals will continue to be emphasized and
special situationals will be teed up for both offense,
defense and special teams.

Rice head coach David Bailiff consistently has made his
preferences known for minimalist, low-key publicity,
although nothing in the way of an actual media blackout,
during the tedious and physically draining four-week
practice period leading into opening day.

He will, however, pipe a little sunshine in the direction of
his studio audience, relating to the performance of his
birds on the field.

“I really appreciate the work ethic of this football team,”
he said. “They all understand that they are in charge of
their own attitude and they have shown up every day with a
great attitude to make this football team better.”

“This morning the humidity was 93 per cent, and it was hot,
but we had a good breeze, so we really pushed through it and
got better and stayed well. It was a minute forty-five
before practice was over before we had our first procedure
penalty. But that’s part of the learning process that you
have to go through to stay mentally sharp. You can’t let the
heat or humidity stand in your way. You have to push through
it.”

“We try to play it smart,” Coach Bailiff added. “We don’t
bring them out in the heat of the day. We do it early in the
morning. We go late at night. We put in a lot of breaks,
give them time to pop the helmet and cool off. We’re trying
to get them tough and used to the Houston elements, but
we’re trying to be smart in our approach.”

The team took part in its first scrimmage Monday morning,
and this coming Saturday morning, August 16, is scheduled
for the second of only two scheduled scrimmages the team
will undertake.

Driphus Jackson is well-ensconced in the number one
signal-caller slot. He’s shown comfort at the quarterback
position, and has been reported to have softened his touch
and improved his accuracy on the deep ball.

The battle for the backup quarterback spot primarily will
take place during the scrimmages, and in fact may be the
most dramatic aspect of an otherwise prosaic camp
competition scenario, despite the number of open starting
slots.

The main reason for that, Rice defensive coordinator Chris
Thurmond, lay in the fact that he and the other assistants,
on both sides of the ball, are not trying to juggle
implemention of elements of new or revised system while
having to make player personnel decisions at the same time.

“We’re intact, coaching-wise,” he said. “These guys have
been in the system for a long time, so now, when making
adjustments, we don’t have anybody asking, 'Hey, coach,
what’s this?' That makes it a lot easier for us – we can
just tweak the system.”

Give the fact that Rice defensive mentors have five
graduated starters to replace – albeit with a stable of
talented replacements – that continuity, Coach Thurmond
said, will enable the staff to concentrate on personnel
rather than adaptation of new scheme.

Mister Christian has returned, left wing intact,
with mutiny on his mind (PTH photo)

HOUSTON (July 31) -- The upcoming football season began to
generate buzz in earnest Wednesday evening, as a decent, but
could-have-been-better, crowd occupied the Tap Room at St.
Arnold Brewery to hear glad tidings from Rice
football coaches and administrators while the yeasty brew
lubricated proceedings at a relaxing clip.

Perhaps the most refreshing cheer of all
came from an announcement by Senior Executive AD Rick Mello that
the old Institute has just received a $12 million gift toward
construction of the oft-announced, but continually evasive, end
zone facility at Rice Stadium, which apparently now is in the
cards for real.

"We
recently got an elite gift," Mello told the crowd, "and as a
result we're 80 per cent of the way there, 80 per cent."

"There" is apparently $30 million, an amount necessary to
complete a multi-phase reworking of the North End Zone of HRS,
together with a spruce-up of what remains.

"Our goal is
to put shovels in the ground after the football season," Rick
added.

The message from the coaching quarters uniformly
was one of sincere enthusiasm, but with relatively little in the
way of ground-breaking news.

Head Coach David
Bailiff, Defensive Coordinator Chris Thurmond and Co-OC Rick
Edmonson all addressed the studio audience, and the chief
admonition that emanated from their pep talks was
along the lines of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

(Time out: That’s fine. No complaints. Hell, whatever we’d do
different – if we’re going to the Single Wing -- we’d sure like
it to be a bit of a surprise to our first two worthy opponents.)

That studio audience, by the way, numbered a fair amount --
close to 200, by one informal head count. It's about the same as
showed up last year, and the year before. But, wait a minute.
Didn't we just win a conference championship in football for the
first time since Wayne Graham was a rookie? That should’ve
brought in 50 or a hundred more, shouldn’t it?

In fact,
some of the usual faces were noticeably absent, and there was a
disappointing turnout of recent Rice football graduates, not
nearly as many as last year. The personal collar-nabbing usually
required to bring out such numbers apparently was not
undertaken, at least not aggressively.

With no ongoing
booster group to provide a base population and word-of-mouth
vehicle, such as the Quarterback Club functioned for decades
until its summary execution early in the previous administration,
it was up to cyberspace to provide pre-event pub and get the
ground to shaking. It didn't.

Still, it was
impossible for the crowd to be pessimistic, what with coming off
the school's first unshared conference football championship
since 1957, and the upcoming season’s forecast was strictly fair
wind and following seas in the eyes of the Owls' football
stewards.

Despite the loss of 25 seniors from last year's
championship team -- all of whom graduated, by the way -- there
remains a talent base that is actually deeper this season than
in years gone by, head coach David Bailiff insisted.

"We
have high aspirations this year," he said. "We're young, but
we're talented. But we are going to compete for a conference
title this year. We're going to go up to Notre Dame and
compete."

With last year’s campaign dwindling in the
rear-view mirror, it was the topic of conversation among
numerous Owl fans that, gee whiz, we won a championship with a
courageous, but really dinged up, quarterback, in the person of
Taylor McHargue. And this year, we’ve got us a healthy ‘un, in
the form of the ever-confident, lanky redshirt junior, Driphus
Jackson.

“We're excited about Driphus,” DB said. “He's
been learning the same system for three years; you've watched
the way he came off the bench in the Armed Forces Bowl and the
Kansas games. He's talented; he's athletic, he's ready; we
really expect big things from him. We really love the leadership
he's provided the football team this summer; he's been
incredible in getting them ready in seven on sevens, and that's
all him getting it done.”

If Driphus Jackson turns out
the hero this season, he’ll have come out of nowhere in the eyes
of the scribes. Not so, however, in regard to the Owls’
defensive linch pin, that Canadian feller who all of the sudden
is being recognized as being within the very elite of the
nation’s big men.

Now, the concern is that Christian
Covington will be so good this coming season that he’ll have to
consider foregoing his senior season and heading straight to the
NFL. He’s only just turned 20 years old, but he’s just that good
– especially for a one-armed man, which was the condition that
he basically was in as he toiled through the latter two-thirds
of the 2013 campaign with his entire left arm and hand swathed
and padded so that he could play with broken bones.

And
play he did, earning national attention in the process.

“Christian's healthy; he's out of the sling,” Coach Bailiff
reported. “He weighs 300 pounds; You know there are four watch
lists for outstanding linemen in college football and this year
he's on all four of them. We have four young men on at least one
of these watch lists this year.”

The Rice head man said
he was obligated to limit Christian’s participation during
spring practice – but not out of concern for his newly-healed
wing. “We had to limit his reps this spring because we
had 21 other guys we were trying to get ready,” Coach Bailiff
said grinning. “A lot of the spring Christian stood by me and
brought me water. It was a good coaching move.”

While
Coach Bailiff played the role of paterfamilias, the two
coordinators said it was merely for them to tweak the dials
during spring practice, thus making it easier to incorporate
upcoming talent into a lineup that is not without its share of
holes left by graduation.

Both DC and OC brought a
prescription to the table, however. For Rice defensive mentor
Chris Thurmond, it was a familiar refrain.

“The point of
emphasis for us this year is simply this: we have got to create
-- and get -- more turnovers,” the irascible Oklahoman said.
“Last year, 43 was what led the country in turnovers; I think we
had 28 last year. So we were pretty good on that score, but if
we can get some more turnovers, then we can really improve, and
that's what we want to do.”

“Guys, we're
not going to change much,” he insisted. “We're pretty much going
to keep doing what we've been doing, and I think that's a good
thing...it's easy to get ready for camp and two a days when you
just have to keep on doing what you're doing; if it's not broke,
don't fix it.”

The new OC’s prescription medicine,
though, sounded welcome to Owl fan ears. “The only thing I'll
say that we'll probably try to do a little bit more of is to try
and play faster,” Coach Edmondson revealed.

What, no more
meerkatting? Well, perhaps less of it.

“We went and
visited Duke; Coach Bailiff set that up and we went over, and it
was clear that they're very much like us, an academic school in
a conference where they excelled last year. And the
similarities between them and us were really unbelievable.”

“But one thing was different...we thought we were playing
fast at time last year -- but Duke, wow, they were really
getting after it. We're going to try to do more of that. We have
smart kids who are able to adjust and see things on the run;
they don't have to sit and look at it for a long time; we're
intelligent, and we need to find more ways to make that work to
our advantage.”

For the first time in perhaps many a
year, Rice is actually a topic of conversation in the world of
Texas schoolboy and college football, Edmonson said.

“The
high school coaches in Texas are pulling for us, they are. One...because they like that man,"
he said, pointing to Coach Bailiff. "They
know what kind of university Rice is, and they see us on the
upswing. Chris (Thurmond) is right, and we need to take it and
accelerate, because there is a lot of buzz out there. We have a
lot of people out there rooting for us, they really are.”

--P.T.H.

Note: for the full streaming video of comments by
Bailiff, Edmonson, Thurmond and Mello, go to our
video report.....